Boris agrees to consider financial incentives to improve bus safety

Mayor Boris Johnson has agreed to consider introducing financial incentives for bus operators to reduce the number of casualties caused by their vehicles and drivers.

Figures recently published by Transport for London show that more than 80 people were hospitalised as a result of a bus collisions in just three months, equivalent to one hospitalisation a day.

The figures were released in response to calls by Conservative Members on the London Assembly.

Separate figures provided to Green party AM Darren Johnson show that in 2011 and 2012, buses caused more deaths and serious injuries per kilometre travelled than HGVs.

At Wednesday’s Mayor’s Question Time, Mr Johnson asked the Mayor whether he would consider rewriting “contracts to include casualty reduction as a performance target so there’s a financial incentive for bus companies to take road safety more seriously?”

In response, the Mayor said: “If there is some advantage to rewriting contracts I will look at it.”

After the meeting Assembly Member Johnson said: “making casualty reduction a key part of the bus contract is a crucial step towards safer roads.”

He added: “I am concerned that bus drivers are being pressured by managers to speed and to jump red lights in order to meet the reliability criteria and thereby ensure bus companies get their full payments.

“The Mayor needs to send a message that road safety is as much a priority as the bus running on time.”

Conservative AM Richard Tracey, who helped secure the release of the bus figures, warned against a “knee-jerk” reaction of tearing up existing bus contracts.

He said: “What we need is common sense action to reduce pedestrian casualties on London’s roads, which is why I’ve been pushing TfL to become more transparent with their collisions data. It’s good news they’re listening and beginning to publish quarterly figures on serious incidents.

“Now we need previous figures so we can identify trends and hotspots. Then we must urgently assess whether the key problem is specific roads, junctions, bus routes or operators.”

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